Machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather



July 14, 1936, R. F. WHITNEY 2,047,536

MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON HIDES, SKINS, AM) LEATHER Filed Aug. 31,. 1935 Y .Y m. ilwenior PatentedJuly 14, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFECE MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON HIDES, SKINS, AND LEATHER Application August 31, 1935, Serial No. 38,781

11 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for operating upon hides, skins, and leather. While the invention is described with reference to its embodiment in a machine for fleshing hides it will be understood that the invention and various features thereof may have other applications and uses.

As heretofore constructed, machines for operating upon hides, skins, and leather, and particularly those of the beamhouse type, have comprised feeding mechanism for the pieces of Work in which feed rolls are utilized to feed the work in an arrangement wherein power is commonly transmitted from one feed roll to another by 15 means of intermeshing gears. This applies also to those constructions wherein one feed roll was moved bodily away from another a sufiicient distance to permit the operator to introduce a piece of work into his machine. In such a construction, movement of the movable feed roll back into co-operative relation with respect to another feed roll resulted in the clashing of the teeth of the gears employed to drive one feed roll from another. Furthermore, long tooth gears are occasionally thrown out of mesh by very heavy stock, causing slippage in the feeding of the stock and sometimes damage to machine parts.

It is an object of this invention to obviate the wear and the noise involved in the clashing of gears as heretofore employed in tanning machinery. It is a further object of the invention to provide a feeding means for tanning machinery wherein control is maintained at all times with respect to the various parts of the feeding means so that proper timing of the parts is secured, and continuous feed of the stock is maintained irrespective of the weight, i. e., the thickness, of the latter.

To these ends, and in accordance with an important feature of the invention, there is provided, in a feeding mechanism for hides, skins, and leather, driving connections comprising a sprocket chain arranged to maintain operative connections with a plurality of feed rolls at all times and particularly when heavy stock is being fed and also when a given feed roll moves a considerable distance away from a co-operating feed roll to permit ready introduction of a piece of work, between said feed rolls, by the operator. By such an arrangement, there is never any failure to feed the stock no matter what its thickness. Furthermore, proper timing of the parts of the feed mechanism is maintained so that clashing and excessive wear of parts is obviated. Conveniently a plurality of feed rolls is provided for feeding pieces of work, each feed roll having a sprocket wheel of special construction secured thereto and arranged to be engaged by a sprocket chain in an organization wherein 5 a rotary chain guiding member is provided in association with each of said sprocket wheels whereby the sprocket chain is maintained wrapped about each sprocket wheel in such man'- ner as to insure the maintenance of the desired 10 driving connection between the sprocket wheels and said sprocket chain.

In the illustrated construction, a feed roll arranged to move alternately away from and into co-operative relation between two other feed 15 rolls is mounted upon arms which support and move said movable feed roll, in an arrangement wherein one of said arms carries a rotary mem ber operative to maintain a sprocket chain wrapped about a considerable portion of the pe- 20 riphery of a sprocket wheel secured to said bodily movable feed roll, there being provided also a second rotary chain guiding member carried by a lever arranged to be controlled by one of said feed roll carrying arms so that the sprocket 25 chain is maintained under proper tension and in continuous engagement with the sprocket wheels of two of the feed rolls, one of which is driven from the other through said sprocket chain.

These and other important features of the in- 30 vention and novel combinations of parts will now be described in detail in the specification and will then be pointed out more particularly in the appended claims.

In the drawing, 35

Fig. 1 is a view in end elevation, and partly in section of a fleshing machine illustrating one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. 1 but showing the parts at another point in the cycle of op- 40 erations;

Fig. 3 is a plan view from above of one end of the machine shown in Fig. 2 with the driving chain omitted;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View along the line IV-IV 45 of Fig. 2 showing only the sectioned sprockets and chain portions; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the two sprockets at the lower end of the chain, the said sprockets being of special construction and shown inter- 5O meshing with each other.

In the illustrated machine, which is specially designed to perform fieshing operations upon hides and skins, there is provided a bladed cylinder l0 journaled in bearings provided with a 55 frame I3 of the machine and arranged to be driven continuously by power means (not shown). For backing the work against the thrust of the cylinder I8 there is provided a bed roll I2 journaled in bearings carried by a slidable carriage I4, the said carriage I4 being mounted for sliding movement upon guideways upon the upper portion of the frame I3 of the machine. Also mounted on the carriage I4 are two work supporting rolls I6 and I8 which also serve as feed rolls when a feed or pinch roll 20 is in its operative position as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing.

In the illustrated construction, the pinch roll 20 is mounted at its ends in boxes one of which is shown at 22 in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the said box being slidably carried in a guideway 24 at the upper end of a swing arm 26. While only one swing arm is shown, it is to be understood that the supporting and operating parts for the pinch roll 28 are duplicated at opposite ends of the machine, and that a description of this structure at one end of the machine applies to that at the other end thereof, unless otherwise specified. Beyond the boxes 22 which support the journal portions of the pinch roll 20, the shaft of the pinch roll is provided with a sleeve 21 (Fig. 3) which is slidably received within an arcuate slot 28 in an extension 38 of the carriage I4. As indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, each swing arm 26 is pivoted at its lower end upon a pivot pin 32 at the upper end of a link member 34, the latter being pivoted at 36 to one end of a crank member 38 rigidly secured to a shaft 40 journaled at its ends in the frame I3 of the machine. Also pivotally connected by the pivot pin 32 to the link 34 is one arm 42 of a bell crank lever, the other arm 44 of which has pivoted thereto at 46 a link 48 which in turn is pivoted at 58 to a bracket 5| extending downwardly from the carriage I4. It will be readily understood that rotation of the shaft 46 will effect reciprocatory movements of the carriage I4.

Power means (not shown) is provided for rotating the shaft 40 through part of a revolution and then automatically coming to rest with the carriage in either the work receiving position, shown in Fig. 1, or in the work presenting position shown in Figs. 2 and 3. In other words, when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1, a piece of work such as a hide may be placed over the rolls I6 and I8 with a portion of the said hide hanging down in the space between the bed roll I2 and the cylinder I6, manual placing of the hide upon the rolls I6 and I8 being facilitated by the fact that the pinch roll 26 has been moved upwardly a considerable distance to the position shown in said Fig. 1. When the operator depresses the treadle, not shown, the shaft 48 is operated to cause movement of the parts to the position shown in Fig. 2 in which the carriage I 4 has moved to the right, from the position shown in Fig. 1, thereby pressing the hide against the cylinder I0. During this movement of the carriageI4, the pinch roll 20 has moved downwardly to a position between the rolls I6 and I8 whereby the hide is pressed against these rolls which now become feed rolls for the hide. For a more detailed description of the operation of the parts thus far disclosed, reference may be had to United States Letters Patent No. 696,588, granted April 1, 1902, upon application of F. J. Perkins.

Means comprising a sprocket chain 66 is provided at one end of the machine for driving the pinch roll 20 from the feed roll I8 which is power driven by means not shown. As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the shaft of the feed roll I8 is provided at the selected end of the machine with a sprocket wheel 62 arranged to be engaged by the sprocket chain 66. Pivoted on the shaft of the feed roll I8 is a lever 64 which carries at its upper end on a stub shaft 65 above the feed roll I8 an idler guide roll 66 about which passes the sprocket chain 69, the arrangement being such that the guide roll 66 insures permanent engagement of the sprocket chain 59 with the sprocket wheel 62. Stub shaft 65 is mounted in the upper end of lever 84 and in an arm 61 rotatably mounted on the shaft of the pinch roll I8, arm 6? being secured to lever 64 by a short tie rod 69. The said sprocket chain 68 also engages a sprocket wheel 68 secured to the shaft of the pinch roll 20. Above the sprocket wheel 68 is an idler guide roll I9 mounted upon a stub shaft carried by an ear projecting from the box 22 in which is journaled one end of the pinch roll 20 at the upper end of the swing arm 26, the arrangement being such that the guide roll 18 insures permanent engagement of the sprocket chain 68 with the sprocket wheel 68 since the sprocket chain passes between the guide roll it and the sprocket wheel 68 and partly around said roll ID and Wheel 68. Upon reference to Figs. 1 and 2 it will be observed that the endless sprocket chain 66 also passes around an idler guide roll I2, which is an idler roll rotatably mounted upon a stationary shaft 14 supported in bearings at the upper end of the extension 38 of the carriage I4. Preferably and as shown, the bearings for the shaft I4 are carried by adjustable members I6 secured to the exten-- sion 39 and adjustable thereon by means including bolts I8 and 80 (Fig. 2) thus making provision for proper initial tensioning of the sprocket chain 66. In order that the sprocket chain 60 may be kept under proper tension during movements of the sprocket wheel 68 with the pinch roll 20 along the arcuate slots 28, the lever 64 is operated to throw the idler roll 66 downwardly and laterally away from said slot 28 as the sprocket wheel 68 is guided upwardly along said slot. For thus operating the lever 64 there is provided a cam roll 82 rotatably mounted on the pivot pin 32, said cam roll 82 being movable along a cam surface 84 extending along lengthwise of the lever 64.

As illustrated, the sprocket wheels 62 and 68 are of special construction so that there shall be no clashing of the teeth of these sprocket wheels during relative rotation of the same and during movement of the sprocket wheel 68 into and out of co-operative relation with sprocket 62 in accordance with corresponding movements of the pinch roll 26. As shown most clearly in Fig. 5, the sprocket Wheels 62 and 68 are each made up of two sprocket members 96, 92 integral with a collar member 94, the sprocket members 90, 92 being so arranged that teeth 96 thereof are staggered with respect to each other, that is, with a tooth on sprocket member 98 opposite to a low spot 9! on a flange 98 between two teeth 96 on the sprocket member 92. This description of the sprocket wheel 68 applies equally well to the sprocket wheel 62 (Fig. 5). Then the sprocket chain 66, when engaged with the sprocket wheels 62 and 68, will insure that the teeth 96 of the sprocket wheels will not clash but will intermesh in relatively widely spaced relation with respect to each other. Upon inspection of Fig. 4 it will be seen that the sprocket chain 68 is really a double chain, link members I80 thereof being in pairs, the links of each pair being spaced by rollers I82 on pins I03, said rollers engaging collars I84 of the idler rolls 66, Ill, and I2 and also the flange portions 98 between the teeth 96 on the sprocket members 98, 92 of the sprocket wheels 62 and 68. It will furthermore be understood that each tooth 96 extends into the space between two adjacent chain pins I03, as indicated in said Fig. 4. While the chain 60 and the parts associated therewith are of a construction to require a double chain at 60, substantially the same construction may also be used with a triple or quadruple chain, or with a single chain. In the latter case, the teeth on the sprockets will have one-half the usual width and be staggered in the manner disclosed, in an organization intended for light work.

When the parts of the machine are in the position shown in Fig. 1, the feed rolls I6 and I8 are at rest so that a piece of work, such as a hide, may be thrown over said rollers I6 and I8 without being displaced therefrom by the turning of the rolls. Upon movement of the carriage I4 to the right, from its position in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 2, power means (not shown) is automatically thrown into operation to rotate the feed roll I8. It should be stated that roll I6 is driven by chain and sprocket connections (not shown) to roll I8, and roll I2 is driven by similar driving connections (not shown) from roll I6. Hence, when the carriage I4 is in the position shown in Fig. 2 the feed rolls are all driven to feed the work out of the machine toward the operator, as indicated by the arrows adjacent to the rolls I2 and I6. Since the pinch roll 20 with its sprocket wheel 68 remains continuously engaged with the sprocket chain 60, the said sprocket wheel 68 will be constrained to move into proper meshing relation with respect to the sprocket wheel 62 without any clashing of the teeth thereof. At the same time proper driving of the pinch roll 20 from the power driven feed roll I8 is insured by reason of the engagement of the sprocket chain 60 with the sprocket wheel 62 on said feed roll I8 as well as with the sprocket wheel 68 on said pinch roll 28.

In the operation of the machine a piece of work, such as a hide, is placed upon the feed rolls I6 and I8 while the carriage is in the position shown in Fig. 1. Upon stepping on the proper treadle, the carriage I4 moves to the right while at the same time the pinch roll 20 moves down the arcuate slots 28 to press the hide down between the feed rolls I6 and I8 so that these latter become also feed rolls in co-operation with the pinch roll 20 to feed the hide out of the machine while it is being operated upon by the bladed cylinder III. It will be understood, of course, that only one part of the hide is operated upon at a time so that it must be twice introduced into the machine before treatment thereof is completed.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather, a tool for treating a piece of work, means for feeding the piece of work past said tool, said feeding means comprising two feed rolls spaced from each other substantially the thickness of the work piece while feeding the latter, one of said feed rolls being movable bodily away from the other a considerable distance to permit manual introduction of the piece of work between the feed rolls, sprocket wheels secured to said feed rolls, a chain arranged to engage said sprocket wheels, and positively controlled means arranged to maintain the chain sufliciently tensioned so that both sprocket wheels remain in driving 5 contact with said chain during all of the movements of said bodily movable feed roll.

2. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather, a tool for treating a piece of work, means for feeding the piece of work past said tool, said feeding means comprising two feed rolls spaced from each other substantially the thickness of the work piece while feeding the latter, one of said rolls being movable bodily away from the other a considerable distance to permit manual introduction of the piece of work between the feed rolls, sprockets secured to said feed rolls, means to drive one of said feed rolls,

a chain arranged to engage said sprockets whereby one of said sprockets is driven from the other, and means arranged to maintain both sprockets in driving contact with said chain during all of the movements of said bodily movable feed roll.

3. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather, a tool for treating a piece of Work, means for feeding the piece of work past said tool, said means comprising two feed rolls spaced from each other substantially the thickness of the work piece while feeding the latter, means to move one of said feed rolls bodily away from the other a considerable distance to permit manual introduction of the piece of work between said feed rolls, sprocket wheels secured to said feed rolls, a sprocket chain engaging said sprocket wheels and passing between them, and a rotary chain guiding member associated with each sprocket wheel to maintain said sprocket chain in engagement with the sprocket wheels during movement of the bodily movable feed roll away from and toward said other feed roll.

4. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather, a tool for treating a piece of work, a plurality of feed rolls to feed the piece of work past said tool, two of said feed rolls being spaced from each other substantially the thickness of the work piece while feeding the latter, means to move one of said two feed rolls bodily away from the other a considerable distance to permit manual introduction of the piece of work between said two feed rolls, sprocket wheels secured to said two feed rolls with teeth thereof intermeshing but not contacting, a sprocket chain engaging said sprockets and passing between the latter, and means to maintain said sprocket chain in proper relation to the sprocket wheels during movement of the bodily movable feed roll away from and toward its co-operating feed roll so that intermeshing of the sprocket wheels takes place without clashing of the teeth of said sprocket wheels.

5. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather, a rotary tool for treating a piece of work, a plurality of feed rolls to feed the piece of work past said rotary tool, two of said feed rolls being spaced from each other substantially the thickness of the work piece while feeding the latter, a pair of arms arranged to support one of said two feed rolls and to move it bodily away from the other a considerable distance to permit manual introduction of the piece of work between said two feed rolls, sprocket wheels secured to said two feed rolls, a sprocket chain arranged in engagement with said sprocket wheels, a rotary member carried by one of said arms to hold the sprocket chain wrapped substantially about the sprocket wheel secured to said bodily movable feed roll, and means comprising said rotary member operative to maintain said sprocket chain properly positioned relatively to said sprocket wheels during bodily movement of the movable feed roll away from and toward said other of the two feed rolls.

6. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather, a rotary tool for treating a piece of work, a plurality of feed rolls to feed the piece of work past said rotary tool, a pair of arms to support one of said feed rolls in position between two others of said feed rolls, said feed rolls being spaced from each other substantially the thickness of the work being fed by said rolls, said arms being movable to carry the middle feed roll to a position spaced a considerable distance away from said two other feed rolls to permit manual introduction of the piece of work between said middle feed roll and the other two feed rolls, sprocket wheels secured to said bodily movable feed roll and to one of the other two feed rolls, a sprocket chain engaging said sprocket wheels, and rotary members positioned adjacent to said sprocket wheels to maintain said sprocket chain in driving engagement with said sprocket wheels.

7. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather, a rotary tool for treating a piece of work, a pair of feed rolls to feed the piece of work past the rotary tool, one of said feed rolls being power driven and mounted rotatably in the frame of the machine, a pair of arms arranged to support the other feed roll and movable to carry it bodily a considerable distance away from the other feed roll to permit manual introduction of the piece of work between said feed rolls, sprocket wheels secured to said feed rolls, a sprocket chain arranged in engagement with said sprocket wheels and passing between the latter, a rotary member carried by one of said arms to engage said sprocket chain to hold the latter wrapped a substantial extent about the sprocket wheel on the bodily movable feed roll, a lever mounted pivotally on the power driven feed roll, a roller member car ried by said lever in position to cause the sprocket chain to be wrapped a substantial amount about the sprocket wheel on said power driven feed roll, and operative connections between said lever and one of said arms whereby said sprocket chain is maintained in engagement with said sprocket wheels during movements of said bodily movable feed roll away from and toward said power driven feed roll and so that one feed roll is driven from the other through said sprocket chain.

8. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather, a tool for treating a piece of Work, means for feeding a piece of work past said tool, said means comprising two feed rolls spaced from each other substantially the thickness of the work piece while feeding the latter, a pair of arms arranged to support one of said feed rolls and to move it bodily away from the other a considerable distance to permit manual introduction of a piece of work between said feed rolls, sprocket wheels secured to said feed rolls, a sprocket chain arranged in engagement with said sprocket wheels and passing between them, a rotary member carried by one of said arms to hold the sprocket chain wrapped a substantial distance about the sprocket wheel secured to said bodily movable feed roll, a cam member to guide said one of the feed roll carrying arms during movements of the latter, a lever member pivoted to turn about the axis of said other feed roll, a rotary chain-guiding member mounted on said lever member, and a cam and cam roll members associated with the lever member and said one of the feed roll carrying arms to maintain said sprocket chain in engagement with said sprocket wheels during bodily movement of the movable feed roll away from and toward said other feed roll.

9. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather, a tool for treating a piece of work, means comprising two feed rolls to feed the piece of work past said tool, said two rolls being spaced from each other substantially the thickness of the work piece while feeding the latter, a pair of arms to support one of said feed rolls and to move it a considerable distance away from the other feed roll to permit manual introduction of the piece of work between said feed rolls, said other feed roll being journaled for rotation in the frame of the machine and being power driven, sprocket wheels secured to adjacent ends of the two feed rolls, said sprocket wheels having teeth which intermesh but do not contact each other, a sprocket chain engaging said sprocket wheels and passing between said wheels to drive one from the other, and means mounted adjacent to said sprocket wheels to maintain said sprocket chain in engagement with the sprocket wheels during movement of said bodily movable feed roll in directions away from and toward said other feed roll.

10. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather, a rotary tool for treating a piece of work, a plurality of feed rolls to feed the piece of work past said rotary tool, a pair of arms to support one of said feed rolls in position between two others of said feed rolls, said feed rolls being spaced from each other substantially the thickness of the work being fed by said rolls, said arms being movable to carry the middle feed roll to a position spaced a considerable distance away from said two other feed rolls to permit manual introduction of the piece of work between said middle feed roll and the other two feed rolls, sprocket wheels secured to said bodily movable feed roll and to one of the other two feed rolls, a sprocket chain engaging said sprocket wheels and passing between the latter, a roller member carried by one of said arms to cause the sprocket chain to be wrapped a substantial distance about the sprocket wheel on said bodily movable feed roll, a lever member pivotally mounted on said one of the other two feed rolls, and a roller member mounted on said lever and arranged to engage said sprocket chain, said roller members serving in conjunction with the sprocket wheel on said bodily movable feed roll to maintain engagement of the sprocket chain with said sprocket wheels during bodily movement of the said bodily movable feed roll away from and toward said other feed rolls.

11. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins, and leather, a rotary tool for treating a piece of work, a plurality of feed rolls to feed the piece of work past said rotary tool, a pair of arms to support one of said feed rolls in position between two others of said feed rolls, said feed rolls being spaced from each other substantially the thickness of the work being fed by said rolls, said arms being movable to carry the middle feed roll to a position spaced a considerable distance away from said two other feed rolls to permit manual introduction of the piece of work between said middle feed roll and the other two feed rolls, sprocket wheels secured to said bodily movable feed roll and to one of the other two feed rolls, a sprocket chain engaging said sprocket wheels, a

whereby the last-mentioned roller member is maintained in such relation to the sprocket chain as to keep the latter in proper tension and in en-' gagement with said sprocket wheels during bodily movements of said bodily movable feed roll 5 away from and toward said other feed rolls.

ROBERT F. WHITNEY. 

